What actually happened in Trafalgar Square

The promise - A gift

For the royal wedding.

Police in blatant lying shock!

Dun, dun, duh! Of the 201 people arrested on Saturday, 145 of them were UK Uncut protesters engaged in an entirely peaceful sit-in at Fortnum & Mason. Of the 149 charged, 138 were UK Uncut protesters (for "aggravated trespass"). This means that the police have charged no more than 11 people who were breaking shop windows and 138 people who were doing street theatre in flowery hats... and it turns out the police lied, and lied on camera, to get the arrests:

Campaigners for the tax-avoidance protest group UK Uncut have claimed senior police officers "tricked" them into a mass arrest after a peaceful protest inside Fortnum & Mason's in London on Saturday.

Activists say they were given repeated assurances by a chief inspector from the Metropolitan police that they would be shown to safety after the protest, which she described as non-violent and sensible. However, when protesters left the luxury Piccadilly store on police instruction, they were kettled, handcuffed and taken into custody.

Their claims are backed up by footage, obtained by the Guardian, showing that, rather than being asked to leave, the protesters inside the luxury food retailer were told they were being kept inside for their own safety.

In the video, shot by observers for the legal volunteer group Green & Black Cross, a police officer can be seen telling protesters they would be directed towards "the safest parts" once they had left the building.

Now, we may want to giggle at liberals for their doe-like trust of the armed bodies of men assembled to protect the rich, but it is correct, absolutely correct to stand with UK Uncut. UK Uncut are a non-violent, direct action organisation. The police are violent, treacherous scum and must be held to account for this.

Damn right!

Dissent is a violent reaction. Saying "no" is resistance. To publicly condemn the "violent minority" is a betrayal of the cause you claim to fight for. David Cameron and NIck Clegg see no difference between protesters – and neither should you...

Neither should you, Andy Newman.

March 26th

Yesterday was a mostly wonderful day. I helped with the logistics of the event. It was a wonderful sight, quarter to nine in the morning, driving up the Kingsway, Southampton Row, Russell Square, all the way up to Euston, seeing trade union flags and banners everywhere, on every corner. Trade unionists, formerly the invisible people of British politics were taking over the capital, finally, they are centre stage. This must continue and develop...

The TUC says that violence in London detracted from the message of the main TUC march; maybe it did and maybe it didn't. However, Vince Cable, who claims to be in regular contact with the trade union leadership says the march won't make a jot of difference to his plans. Until there are huge strikes launched can you blame kids for smashing up symbols of wealth and power?

Strikes must come if we are to fight the Blue/Yellow Tories off.

Brendan Barber, TUC General Secretary, by his own admission: "I don't expect the government to suddenly announce they're going to make a U-turn because of an event like this but they are going to have to start reflecting pretty seriously". Therein lies the rub. David Cameron doesn't have a reflection.

More Middle East

A month, maybe six weeks ago, the Arab revolution was sweeping all before it. The fact that Gaddhafi was able to turn the tide in Libya has changed things across the region. No ruling class worth its salt is caught napping with a revolution on its doorstep. I see today the Yemeni parliament, such as it is, has voted to fully unveil the dictatorship there, and well it might after the defection of several generals to the rebellion:

Yemen's parliament has enacted sweeping emergency laws after the embattled president asked for new powers of arrest, detention and censorship to quash a popular uprising demanding he step down.

The move significantly escalates the showdown between US-backed leader Ali Abdullah Saleh and the movement that has unified military commanders, religious leaders and protesting youth behind demands that he quit immediately.

The law suspends the constitution, allows media censorship, bans street protests and gives security forces 30 days of far-reaching powers to arrest and detain suspects.

Its adoption was a virtual certainty because Saleh's ruling party dominates the 301-seat legislature.

The effect of the west's military intervention has created a heads I win tales you lose dilemma for the Libyan rebels, as it always was going to. These rebellions are for democracy, but the chief obstacle to democracy in the middle east is western imperialism. I guess, in the short term, the revolution's progress will depend on how far revolutionaries progress in Egypt and Tunisia. Of course we have a job here too, we have to fight imperialism in the metropolis, perhaps, who knows, bring down a government or two here...

Oh, by the way, there's a demo this Saturday.

Altogether now...

Fred Goodwin, former chief executive of the Royal Bank of Scotland, won a 'superinjuction' forbiding anyone in the mass media calling him a banker. This is he:



[Clears throat] And a one, and a two and a BANKERBANKERBANKERBANKERBANKERBANKERBANKERBANKERBANKERBANKERBANKERBANKERBANKERBANKERBANKERBANKERBANKERBANKERBANKERBANKERBANKERBANKERBANKERBANKERBANKERBANKERBANKERBANKERBANKERBANKERBANKERBANKERBANKERBANKERBANKERBANKERBANKERBANKERBANKERBANKERBANKERBANKERBANKERBANKERBANKERBANKERBANKERBANKERBANKERBANKERBANKERBANKERBANKERBANKERBANKERBANKER...

For no raisin

Roughly the same song? You decide... actually, you don't, but have a listen anyway:

Interstellar Overdrive



Burning Wheel

We must do something

Something must be done. Unfortunately ‎"We" = David Cameron, Barack Obama and Nicolas Sarkozy, not you, me (or anyone else who may read this post). Let's not confuse the issue. When ordinary people argue for a no-fly-zone (whatever they might think that involves) they are doing so out of solidarity with those suffering. The former trio are imperial leaders, not the armed wing of amnesty international. They will act in the interests of western capital, not the Arab people. Don't confuse the two and don't imagine for a second that "we" can act through world leaders, state power and so forth.

Our responsibility in the west is to stop western imperial power from interfering in the Arab revolution, to stop Cameron and co from putting the shackles back on the Arab people. Something must be done. The main enemy is at home. Hands off the Middle East.

The Middle East

Soldiers have unleashed large scale violence against (unarmed) democracy protesters in Bahrain. This happened days after Saudi members of the Peninsular Shield Force (most of whom are foreign mercenaries) entered Bahrain.

The Peninsula Shield Force was created by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in 1984 supposedly to deter military aggression against any member countries.

These are Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

These are all countries armed and aided by the west, including Britain; hence our glorious leader's recent Middle East tour hawking arms. Are these the people we expect to come to aid of the Libyan rebels? No fly zone? How's about a no fly zone over Gaza?

Blah, blah, news, soforth, etc, per astra...

News, people! Californian politicians want to carry concealed weapons. Concealed weapon is a polite term for pistol. This is, of course, in reference to the shooting of Gabrielle Giffords (and two dozen other people). It is a symptom of the mildly insane nature of US politics, and perhaps a metaphor for our post-neoliberal world:

The Californian initiative highlights a peculiar trend since the Tucson shooting.

Far from inspiring a major change in the US attitude towards personal weapons, which is among the most gun-friendly in the world, it has prompted a rash of legislative moves across the country designed further to loosen gun controls.

The Legal Community Against Violence campaign estimates that there are currently 470 gun bills being considered around the US, of which 273 would make it easier for people to buy and carry weapons.

Even in Arizona itself, where the Giffords shooting took place, there are 16 bills pending, most of which favour the gun owner rather than the potential victims of gun outrages.

So, American friends, if you go to visit a Californian representative be polite and be prepared to duck.

It reminds me of the institution of the Sky Marshall, an armed, undercover officer placed on a to protect against terrorist hijack. Yes, folks, there is a guy with licence to go peyow, peyow, you're dead, six miles above ground, in a pressurised cabin. We live in a society where numerous institutions have failed and are still failing. Our leaders only answer is to continue as before, only do it harder, rack up the force, the danger, the tension. It is the same story, whether it's about neo-liberal economics or state force.

Good evening, London...

Allow me first to apologize for this interruption. I do, like many of you, appreciate the comforts of every day routine- the security of the familiar, the tranquility of repetition. I enjoy them as much as any bloke. But in the spirit of commemoration, thereby those important events of the past usually associated with someone's death or the end of some awful bloody struggle, a celebration of a nice holiday, I thought we could mark this November the 5th, a day that is sadly no longer remembered, by taking some time out of our daily lives to sit down and have a little chat. There are of course those who do not want us to speak. I suspect even now, orders are being shouted into telephones, and men with guns will soon be on their way. Why? Because while the truncheon may be used in lieu of conversation, words will always retain their power. Words offer the means to meaning, and for those who will listen, the enunciation of truth. And the truth is, there is something terribly wrong with this country, isn't there? Cruelty and injustice, intolerance and oppression. And where once you had the freedom to object, to think and speak as you saw fit, you now have censors and systems of surveillance coercing your conformity and soliciting your submission. How did this happen? Who's to blame? Well certainly there are those more responsible than others, and they will be held accountable, but again truth be told, if you're looking for the guilty, you need only look into a mirror. I know why you did it. I know you were afraid. Who wouldn't be? War, terror, disease. There were a myriad of problems which conspired to corrupt your reason and rob you of your common sense. Fear got the best of you, and in your panic you turned to the now high chancellor, Adam Sutler. He promised you order, he promised you peace, and all he demanded in return was your silent, obedient consent. Last night I sought to end that silence. Last night I destroyed the Old Bailey, to remind this country of what it has forgotten. More than four hundred years ago a great citizen wished to embed the fifth of November forever in our memory. His hope was to remind the world that fairness, justice, and freedom are more than words, they are perspectives. So if you've seen nothing, if the crimes of this government remain unknown to you then I would suggest you allow the fifth of November to pass unmarked. But if you see what I see, if you feel as I feel, and if you would seek as I seek, then I ask you to stand beside me one year from tonight, outside the gates of Parliament, and together we shall give them a fifth of November that shall never, ever be forgot.

How TV ruined your life

I am currently enjoying the above TV show (and, like Sideshow Bob, I am aware of the irony of using a TV show in order to decry the medium). As far as Charlie Brooker is concerned, for what he sets out to do, I don't think he has put a foot wrong, and he still hasn't here. It is a brilliant, comic, insightful post-McLuhan look at what our mass media are and what they do to us. The insatiable drive to sensationalise and iconise all output is dangerous. It turns news from a series of facts arranged into cohesive narrative that helps you understand your place in a changing world into a series of greater and more spectacular shocks. It leaves the viewer senseless, atomised and numb.

Look, it's a fucking mile-wide whirlpool.



Coming up we've got bankers come to rob you, police come to beat you, Libyan air planes come to bomb you, climate change, nuclear meltdown, swine flu, David Beckham, Justin Bieber, all very important, big things, you couldn't possibly understand, so sit up and pay attention, peasant.

The lighter side of mental illness

Have you taken the Gaddafi or Sheen quiz? I have. I got something like 8 out of 10 and had a good laugh. Then it occurred I was laughing at mental illness. Then I remembered that much humour is based on relief from fear. Mental illness is one of the greatest fears stalking modern capitalism.

Liberal capitalist ideology says that being is found in the individual. We take it for granted that we are all different, we have our own unique point of view. Liberal capitalism is secular (in the proper sense of the word) in making the individual conscience paramount.

If we take this for granted then the being, the psyche, the individual conscience is exceptionally vulnerable to a world dominated by powerful, impersonal forces (driven, ultimately, by the preogative of competitive accumulation of capital). One of the reason people fail to grasp such forces, the market, the family, the church, the state etc is this liberal assumption.

We take it for granted the individual, unbonded conscience is sacred, but also realise that there must be checks and balances. Everyone means well, after all, how can we sort the good ideas (or people) from the bad? There is the general psychoanalytic idea of the Id, Ego and Superego; inner desire rises up, where it meets outer social control or censorship it forms the outline of a personality. The superego is not simply brute external force but something we internalise. In Marxist terms it is something close to class hegemony, the dominant ideas of any age are the ideas of the ruling class.

Even so, we experience and understand authority as something coming from without, which we have to make an effort to internalise. This fear, the fear which causes us to laugh at a man whose personal censorship has been removed, casuing him to be 'mad', is parallel to the fear we show in front of authority. Can we do away with the state, the church, the market, all the things which regulate our behaviour and simply rely on our own authority? Revolution is a time when ordinary people take matters into their own hands and find it liberating. But time and time again, without a means of generalising revolutionary insights (we can do away with all the things currently used to control us) after taking matters into their own hands, people have given control back to the old order.

We have to instill into people, again and again, confidence in themselves and confidence in the people around them.

For no raisin

You watched it...